The new Mercedes-Benz Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid made its first appearance in its future operating location of Hamburg today. The exceptional feature of this latest-generation fuel cell hybrid bus is its outstanding environmental compatibility. The bus emits absolutely no pollutants while in motion, and it’s also virtually silent, making it ideal for use in highly congested inner cities and metropolitan areas. From next year, no less than ten of the 30 vehicles that Daimler Buses is producing for European transport operators are destined for the Hamburg transport authority. In addition, Hamburger Hochbahn will take delivery of 20
Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL cars starting 2010, which are also equipped with a fuel cell drive system.

The Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid is taking part in large-scale fleet trials which are due to take place in Hamburg and other European cities. This is a follow-up to the European Union's successful CUTE and HyFLEET:CUTE projects, which were carried out from 2003 to 2009. In the HyFLEET:CUTE project, a total of 36 Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses equipped with the second-generation fuel cell drive system have performed outstandingly for 12 public transport agencies on three continents, among them Hamburger Hochbahn AG. In more than 140,000 hours of operation, during which they covered a total of more than 2.2 million gererated kilometres, these environmentally compatible Mercedes-Benz buses have impressively demonstrated their ability to function reliably under operating conditions.

Intelligent use of synergies in the passenger car and commercial vehicle sectors

“The new Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid clearly demonstrates that electric mobility is already feasible today also with commercial vehicles”, says Hartmut Schick, head of Daimler Buses. “Besides, synergy potentials with our Mercedes-Benz passenger car development and Daimler research can be optimally used in particular with the fuel cell drive system.”

For the Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid and the B-Class F-CELL, Mercedes-Benz successfully follows the cost-effective principle of using common parts. Components such as fuel cell stacks can be used as modules for both cars and commercial vehicles, for example: the new Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid bus is e.g. powered by two fuel cell systems of the same type used in the B-Class F-CELL. Thanks to improved fuel cell components and hybridisation with lithium-ion batteries, the Citaro FuelCELL-Hybrid consumes almost 50 percent less hydrogen compared to the preceding generation. The operating range of the fuel cell bus is around 250 kilometers. The fuel cell drive system is also practically maintenance-free, and has a long operating life.